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Cyclone Japhet was a damaging tropical cyclone that affected southeast Africa in March 2003. It developed on February 25 near the southwest coast of Madagascar, and initially moved to the northwest before turning to the southwest. With favorable conditions for development, Japhet quickly intensified in the Mozambique Channel, reaching maximum winds of , sustained over 10 minutes. After stalling briefly, the cyclone turned to the northwest, weakening slightly before striking Mozambique just south of Vilankulo on March 2. Japhet slowly weakened while progressing inland, dissipating over Zambia on March 6. Along its path, Japhet dropped heavy rainfall that caused widespread river flooding. The rains occurred after an extended drought, although excessive precipitation caused heavy crop damage, notably around where the storm moved ashore. In two provinces in Mozambique, the cyclone damaged or destroyed 25,000 houses, leaving at least 23,000 people homeless. Flooding in Zambia caused rivers to rise in Mozambique several days after the storm's passage. There were 17 deaths in Mozambique. Further inland, remnant rainfall destroyed a bridge and several houses in Zimbabwe, killing eight people. ==Meteorological history== On February 23, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began monitoring an area of convection in the Mozambique Channel. On February 25, Météo France (MF) initiated advisories on Tropical Disturbance 13 when the system was located along the southwest coast of Madagascar. Later that day, the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert, noting that environmental conditions favored development, including weak wind shear. The system developed organized convection in a circular pattern, and on February 26, the MF and JTWC upgraded the system to Tropical Depression 13 and Tropical Cyclone 19S, respectively. With a mid-level ridge to the south, the depression moved generally westward, and after intensifying further, it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Japhet by the Direction de la Météorologie et de l'Hydrologie of Madagascar late on February 26. After attaining tropical storm status, Japhet quickly intensified while it began moving to the southwest, due to a break in the ridge.〔 At 0000 UTC on February 28, the MF assessed that the storm strengthened into a tropical cyclone – a storm with 10 minute sustained winds of . This was about 12 hours after the JTWC upgraded Japhet to the same intensity but with 1 minute sustained winds. About 18 hours after designating Japhet as a tropical cyclone, MF estimated the storm attained 10 minute sustained winds of and upgraded the storm to an intense tropical cyclone; this made Japhet only the sixth such cyclone in the Mozambique Channel in 24 years. After further intensification, the cyclone peaked in intensity on March 1.〔 The JTWC estimated 1 minute sustained winds of with gusts to ,〔 while MF estimated 10 minute sustained winds of .〔 Cyclone Japhet maintained its peak winds for about 24 hours,〔 during which it remained nearly stationary. Subsequently, the storm began a northwest track toward the Mozambique coast, gradually weakening due to decreased outflow and dry air.〔 At about 1700 UTC on March 2, Japhet made landfall just south of Vilankulo, Mozambique, with winds of as estimated by the JTWC.〔〔 The cyclone gradually weakened over land, decreasing below tropical cyclone status by early on March 3. Japhet crossed into southern Zimbabwe, and both JTWC and MF discontinued warnings before Japhet dissipated on March 5.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cyclone Japhet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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